Internet Desk: Gautam Gambhir’s field setting against MS Dhoni in the Indian Premier League Match 45 against Rising Pune Supergiants on Saturday has been the talking point in social media. While some called the field placement aggressive, while others felt the left hander was a bit arrogant.
Dhoni walked into bat with Rising Pune Supergiants in some trouble as 4 wickets were down with the scoreboard reading 74 runs. Immediately the Knight Riders captain opted to set an aggressive field with close in fielders all around. Apart from keeping himself stationed at silly point, Gambhir had two slips and a short leg for Dhoni. The strategy of the Knight Riders captain seemed to click as the Indian T20 captain struggled to score freely. Dhoni could only manage to score 8 runs off 22 balls before rain stopped play, which incidentally happens to be the slowest ever knock for any innings of 20-plus balls.
The incident took the social media by storm as comments kept flooding in. A section of fans commented it was sheer arrogance on the part of Gambhir to set such field while others felt he was only trying to be a little more aggressive. And the Knight Riders captain has valid reasons to do so.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Gambhir has set an aggressive field for Dhoni. He has implemented this strategy several times before, including in the first match between KKR and RPS in the IPL this year.
Gambhir employed a similar strategy against Dhoni during the IPL in 2015 while he was leading Chennai Super Kings. In that match at Eden Gardens, he had a forward short leg , a leg slip, a slip and a silly point for chinaman Brad Hogg. Dhoni managed to score only 1 run from 4 balls . Knight Riders won the match by 7 wickets.
Few months after IPL 8, Gambhir resorted to a similar strategy against Dhoni in Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter final match in Bengaluru. The Delhi captain had two slips, a silly point and a forward short leg for left arm spinner Manan Sharma. Delhi won the match by 99 runs.
In the first meeting between Rising Pune Supergiants and Kolkata Knight Riders, Gambhir tried to get a bit more aggressive. He brought himself at silly mid off while Morne Morkel was stationed at leg gully and Surya Kumar Yadav was at first slip for Sunil Narine. Dhoni could only manage 23 runs of 12 balls in losing cause as RPS lost the match by 2 wickets.
During the last match against RPS at Eden Gardens on Saturday , Gambhir again opted for an aggressive strategy. Apart from keeping himself stationed at silly point, Gambhir had two slips and a short leg for Dhoni. The strategy of the Knight Riders captain seemed to click as the Indian T20 captain struggled to score freely. Dhoni could only manage to score 8 runs off 22 balls before rain stopped play . Knight Riders eventually winning the match by 8 wickets under D/L method.
So, it is evident Gautam Gambhir has a liking for MS Dhoni whenever he comes into bat at the crease with the spinners bowling.